Autonomous vehicles, such as vehicles that do not require a human driver, can be used to aid in the transport of passengers or items from one location to another. Such vehicles may operate in a fully autonomous mode where passengers may provide some initial input, such as a destination, and the vehicle maneuvers itself to that destination. Thus, such vehicles may be largely dependent on systems that are capable of determining the location of the autonomous vehicle at any given time, as well as detecting and identifying objects external to the vehicle, such as other vehicles, stop lights, pedestrians, etc. As an example, these systems may include sensors, such as laser scanning equipment and cameras, mounted at various locations on the vehicle.
Autonomous vehicles may also operate in a partially or fully autonomous mode. In some instances, a passenger may desire to take over control of the vehicle during heavy traffic or conditions where a passenger would prefer to drive. A human driver may also desire to manually control the vehicle to conduct road testing and maintenance checks on the vehicle.
An autonomous vehicle operating in a fully autonomous mode does not require the same features required by a human driver. For example, when the autonomous vehicle is in full autonomous mode, laser scanning equipment, cameras, and the autonomous vehicle control system control the path of the vehicle, obviating the need for front and rear-side view mirrors and a steering wheel. However, a human driver operating the autonomous vehicle requires such features to operate the autonomous vehicle, for example, in a manual or semiautonomous mode.